Starter Server Build Guide

[Guest]

Hi, I'm new to servers and I was wondering if someone could provide a very cheap/low end budget server build I could use. The only requirements I would be looking for would be that it can run Windows Home Server 2011 - (2GB RAM min/8GB RAM max, 1.4 GHZ processor or more), has ethernet port, other than that that's all I need 

[LasersPewPew]

What is your budget and what are you planning to use the server for?

[Guest]

What is your budget and what are you planning to use the server for?

like $500 but I found an hp server for less that costs like $400 so looking for something as low as i can get with these requirements, home use - personal files

[LasersPewPew]

If it's just a file server, why not go with a NAS unit instead? You don't need 2-8GBs of RAM for file server unless you're planning to have 5+ concurrent users read and writing to the server.  NAS units uses less power and easier to manage. 

 

Just another option to consider.

[Guest]

If it's just a file server, why not go with a NAS unit instead? You don't need 2-8GBs of RAM for file server unless you're planning to have 5+ concurrent users read and writing to the server.  NAS units uses less power and easier to manage. 

 

Just another option to consider.

NAS isn't good for hosting, servers have more room for progression. 

[LasersPewPew]

NAS isn't good for hosting, servers have more room for progression. 

 

 

That depends on what you're trying to host. A NAS is more than capable of being a personal server if you're the only one access it. Like you said when I asked what the server is for... 

 

home use - personal files

 

Now you're planning to use it for a hosting server then that changes everything. What kind of expandability are you looking for? being able to add more drives in the future?

[Guest]

That depends on what you're trying to host. A NAS is more than capable of being a personal server if you're the only one access it. Like you said when I asked what the server is for... 

 

 

 

Now you're planning to use it for a hosting server then that changes everything. What kind of expandability are you looking for? being able to add more drives in the future?

Right, host files the server is going to be connected to my home network. If I have a few pcs running and connecting at the same time then it needs to host for them 

[Guest]

And yeah I might want to do that in the future but for now I just want to get a starter server to get the idea of what I might need to advance to. 

[abefroman]

I just built myself a Windows Sever 2012 R2 Essentials rig for my closet.  I salvaged some parts from past builds, but the total cost was about $700.  That being said, I went overboard for what I really needed.

 

If you are a student, check out dreamspark and see if your school is listed and get Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials (for FREE!) instead of WHS 2011.  Trust me, I've used WHS since beta and it's past it's prime and it might not even be supported.  Personally,  I looked at going with FreeNAS myself, but opted to stick with a Windows OS as it's familiar and better support. 

 

Here is a quick custom build using server grade parts (I did this in 10 min, so this is for directional purposes only): http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3k44hM

 

If you are worried about data integrity, make sure that you stick with server grade components (processor, motherboard, ECC RAM, and Hard Drives).  If you dont really care about data integrity, get a cheap quad core based system and load it up with drives.  I'd go with a 64-bit system and ~4 GB of RAM no matter what though. 

 

Hope that helps!

 

-Abe

[Centurius]

I just built myself a Windows Sever 2012 R2 Essentials rig for my closet.  I salvaged some parts from past builds, but the total cost was about $700.  That being said, I went overboard for what I really needed.

 

If you are a student, check out dreamspark and see if your school is listed and get Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials (for FREE!) instead of WHS 2011.  Trust me, I've used WHS since beta and it's past it's prime and it might not even be supported.  Personally,  I looked at going with FreeNAS myself, but opted to stick with a Windows OS as it's familiar and better support. 

 

Here is a quick custom build using server grade parts (I did this in 10 min, so this is for directional purposes only): http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3k44hM

 

If you are worried about data integrity, make sure that you stick with server grade components (processor, motherboard, ECC RAM, and Hard Drives).  If you dont really care about data integrity, get a cheap quad core based system and load it up with drives.  I'd go with a 64-bit system and ~4 GB of RAM no matter what though. 

 

Hope that helps!

 

-Abe

To add onto this you can also get the Standard and Datacenter versions for free there which do not require significantly more specs and offer more expand-ability later on.